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Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

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Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

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Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

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Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

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China Threatened Czech Republic That Its Companies Will Be Punished if Czech Senate Speaker Visits Taiwan

On January 10, China’s Embassy in the Czech Republic, sent a letter to the Czech President’s Office, stating that, if the Czech Senate Speaker Jaroslav Kubera visited Taiwan, Czech companies operating in mainland China, such as Volkswagen subsidiary Skoda Auto or lender Home Credit Group, would be punished.

Kubera died unexpectedly on Jan. 20, before his trip took place.

The letter stated, “Czech companies whose representatives visit Taiwan with Chairman Kubera will not be welcome in China or with the Chinese people.”

“Czech companies who have economic interests in China will have to pay for Chairman Kubera’s visit to Taiwan. China is the largest foreign market for many Czech companies like Skoda Auto, Home Credit Group, Klaviry Petrof and others.”

The Czech president’s spokesman confirmed the letter had been received but did not comment on its contents.

Source: Reuters, February 19, 2020
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-czech-taiwan/china-threatened-to-harm-czech-companies-over-taiwan-visit-letter-idUSKBN20D0G3

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Xinhua: China’s February PMI Declined Significantly

Xinhua recently reported, based on data that the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics released, that China’s February manufacturing PMI index saw a free fall to 35.7 percent, down by 14.3 percentage points from January. Apparently the coronavirus pandemic was a direct cause of the sharp decline. Among the sub-indexes of the manufacturing PMI, month-over-month, new orders fell 22.1 percent, the raw material inventory fell 13.2 percent, employment fell 15.7 percent, and supplier delivery time fell 17.8 percent. All aspects of manufacturing in China suffered major slow-downs in February. In the meantime, non-manufacturing PMI declined 24.5 percentage points to 29.6 percent, month-over-month. However, financial services and capital market activities are still expanding. For the sectors of broadcasting, satellite services, and internet services, the market saw minor declines – significantly above average. The construction sector had the most significant decline with a month-over-month drop of 33.1 percentage points, to 26.6 percent. China’s overall PMI for February was 28.9 percent, which was 24.1 percent below January. PMI is an indicator of financial activity reflecting purchasing managers’ acquisition of goods and services. A PMI number below 50 typically reflects a decline.

Source: Xinhua, February 29, 2020
http://www.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2020-02/29/c_1125642377.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Carrie Lam Plans to Use Coronavirus Containment to Boost the Establishments’ Position in Upcoming Election

Apple Daily reported that it obtained a copy of a report that Hong Kong Executive Carrie Lam sent to Beijing. In the report, Lam mentioned that the coronavirus containment could be used to create a favorable environment for the establishment in the upcoming Legislative Council election in September.

The report said:

From the election politics, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) hopes to obtain citizens’ recognition and support by using the effective control of the epidemic in order to create a favorable environment for the establishment. Therefore, we are requesting the Central government to continue to assist the Hong Kong SAR to solve two urgent issues:

1. Allow specified mask and protective equipment manufacturers to continue to deliver supplies to Hong Kong and provide machinery and raw materials to Hong Kong manufacturers who set up local mask production lines.

2. Allow the SAR government to discuss with the Hubei Provincial / Wuhan Municipal government to arrange for Hong Kong people stranded in the local area to return to Hong Kong in batches.

If the Central government can support the completion of these two works, the Hong Kong SAR could retain its administrative reputation and also let the Hong Kong people feel the central government’s care under the ‘one country, two systems’ structure. (We) believe it will be a rare opportunity to change the situation before the Legislative Election in September.

Hong Kong’s Establishment (pro-Beijing group) suffered a big loss in the District Council elections last year because the SAR government took a hardline position against the Hong Kong protests and refused to respond to the public’s demands.

Source: Apple Daily, February 23, 2020
https://hk.appledaily.com/local/20200223/AUBAU7W7CNESCJQTRZAS5MN7RY/

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Social Stability

World Outbreak: Are South Koreans Flying to China? Beijing Said This Is a Rumor

As the novel coronavirus outbreak continued in South Korea, news about South Koreans fleeing to China to seek a safe haven was spreading on China’s Internet. It would boost the confidence of the Chinese people in trusting the government’s handling of the epidemic.

The news said, “Due to the exploding number of novel coronavirus infections in South Korea, a large number of Koreans have rushed to Qingdao City, Shandong Province in China. Because the epidemic is under control in China and the treatment is free, many Koreans have fled to China. Airfare has jumped from a few hundred yuan to 6,000 yuan.”

Beijing News, a media based in Beijing, then inquired at the National Immigration Administration of China to verify the news. The office responded that, based on its statistics, airlines have cut some flights due to the coronavirus epidemic, which might have caused some increase in airfares, but overall, the number of people flying from Korea to China has increased only marginally and 70 percent of those people are Chinese citizens. “There is no sign that a large number of Koreans are rushing into China yet.”

SET News, a news media in Taiwan, reported this information.

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Hot Topics | | |   Social Stability

World Outbreak: Iran Vice President Confirmed with Coronavirus Infection

Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, one of the four Vice Presidents of Iran and the highest-ranking woman in the government, was confirmed as having the coronavirus infection and quarantined at home on February 27, 2020.

Ebtekar, was known to Americans as “Mary” during the Iran hostage crisis from 1979 to 1981. As a young revolutionary, she was a spokeswoman for the captors of the 52 Americans held at the United States Embassy.

Besides Ebtekar, six other high-ranking Iranian officials are also infected with the virus:

  • Mojtaba Zolnour, a member of Parliament from Qom and head of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee
  • Mahmoud Sadeghi, an outspoken member of Parliament from Tehran
  • Iraj Harirchi, the Deputy Health Minister who had been leading the effort to contain the coronavirus
  • Morteza Rahmanzadeh, the Mayor of a Tehran district
  • Dr. Mohamad Reza Ghadir, head of Coronavirus Management in Qom and Director of the city’s State Medical University
  • Hadi Khosroshahi, a prominent cleric and former Ambassador to the Vatican.

A search, revealed that Iran had total of 54 deaths from the coronavirus as of March 1, including Elham Sheikhi, who was in her early 20s, a professional athlete, and a member of the women’s national soccer team.

Source: New York Times, February 27, 2020

Hot Topics | | |   Social Stability

Virus Origin: Zhang Wenhong Disagreed That Coronavirus Originated Outside China

After Zhong Nanshan, a high-profile doctor in China, suggested on February 27, 2020, that the Coronavirus could have originated from outside of China, another high-profile doctor, Zhang Wenhong, disagreed with that idea.

Zhang Wenhong is the Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Huashan Hospital, at Fudan University, Shanghai. He was tasked with leading the medical expert team to fight the novel coronavirus in Shanghai. Many Shanghainese call him, “Daddy Zhang” for his outspokenness and the care he has for people.

On February 28, 2020, China Daily, a state-controlled newspaper that publishes both Chinese and English versions, interviewed Zhang. In the interview, when responding to a question regarding claims that the virus was imported from elsewhere, Zhang said that he believed the virus originated in Wuhan. Zhang argued, “If that was the case (that the virus was imported), we should have seen patients emerging from different regions in the country around the same time rather than seeing their concentration in Wuhan.”

Sina republished the article from China Daily, which contains the Chinese following the English translation.

However, most of the Chinese media that reported Zhang’s disagreement saw that his comments were taken down afterwards.

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Hot Topics | | |   Social Stability

China Conducted First Lung Transplant on a Patient with the Coronavirus

On February 29, 2020, China conducted its first lung transplant on a patient with the novel coronavirus. Chen Jingyu, Director of the Lung Transplant Section, China-Japan Friendship Hospital and Vice President of People’s Hospital in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, led his team to complete the operation of transplanting both lungs in five hours.

The patient, 59, was confirmed to have the COVID-19 infection on January 26. Both of his lungs had been severely injured and could not recover.

The Chinese Communist Party has been condemned for conducting live organ harvesting against political and religious dissidents, including Falun Gong practitioners and Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Continue reading →

Hot Topics | | |   Social Stability

Hiding Information: Liaoning Province Ordered to Destroy Files Regarding Epidemic

Epoch Times, an independent Chinese language media, reported that it has obtained an internal document from the Chaoyang Municipal Health Commission of Liaoning Province regarding the destruction of documents related to the novel coronavirus epidemic.

The document was issued on February 23, 2020, and submitted to the Liaoning Provincial Health Commission. The document read:

Provincial Health Commission:

After receiving the “Emergency Notice on Safely Handling Relevant Information,” our city government immediately notified the Chaoyang Public Security Bureau, Lingyuan City government, and Longcheng District government to destroy files and data. We also identified and listed every person who had access to the data and required each of them to sign a ‘Confidentiality Commitment.’ The three offices have destroyed the data.

Attachment:

1. List of work units that received the file

2. Confidentiality Commitment

Signed by Chaoyang Municipal Health Commission, on February 23, 2020

The attached “Confidentiality Commitment” form required the signer to promise the following:

  1. Immediately destroy any data file, picture, and records that are stored on any computer, thumb-drive, and mobile phones.
  2. Absolutely do not use any reason or any means to duplicate, use, or send the above data to any other people.
  3. Except when required by law, do not release this information to any other institute or individual.

The Epoch Times reporter searched Liaoning Province and Chaoyang City news on February 21. The Liaoning Provincial Health Committee announced zero new coronavirus infection cases on February 21, but Chaoyang reported six confirmed cases.

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Hot Topics | | |   Social Stability